Saturday, December 30, 2017

Caught in a lie, Mat Staver simply repeats the lie

Mat Staver is apoplectic over being labeled a hate group leader. Aside from marginal mental hygiene the self-righteous Staver is probably the dumbest lawyer in America and a notorious bigot and a pathological liar. Staver, also a Christian supremacist, subscribes to the theory that repeating a lie will convince people that it wasn't a lie in the first place due to his sanctimony.

We begin on Wednesday, December 27:

On the 27th Staver sent out an email to supporters titled “'Merry Christmas' Makes the SPLC's Hate List.” Staver went on to sputter:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) was caught "monitoring hate" by tracking
its 12 top most hateful hashtags, which included: #merrychristmas, which ranked number two, #christmas at number three, #christmaseve at number five, #jesus at number eight, and #merrychristmaseve in the last slot. The SPLC is willing to lump anyone who says "Merry Christmas" or "Jesus" in with the most violent and racist groups in America.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) maintains an automated tool that tracks trending topics of discussion among a far-right community of Twitter users.

Because that tool captured the community talking about Christmas, during Christmas, the anti-LGBT hate group Liberty Counsel has accused the SPLC of attacking Christians.

In other words, contrary to Staver's assertion, the SPLC was tracking people. When they are not discussing #WhiteGenocide or #JewsControlTheMedia they might be discussing mainstream topics. Most people who view SPLC's tracker are capable of comprehending how some stuff works. Friday, for example, in third place was #thelasjedi. The SPLC doesn't seem to be assigning racist or homophobic characteristics to The Force. Sadly, there was a dearth of discussion among the far right about #HappyHanukkah. I'm just a bit hurt by that but I digress (and I'll get over it).

That brings us to the afternoon of Friday, December 29:

Staver has a new missive. This one is titled: “SPLC Cannot Defend 'Hate Tracker' with #MerryChristmas and #Jesus.” It represents the amalgam of three things:

Spectacular stupidity.

Pathological mendacity.

The knowledge that Liberty Counsel supporters are idiots.

There is nothing to defend. Christians were no more attacked than Star Wars fans. If the far-right numb-skulls are discussing their favorite flavor of Cheetos then #FlamingHotPuffs might be on the list of trending topics. No sane fan of Cheetos would believe that they were being attacked by SPLC.

Amid the gibberish of the December 29 email is this:

The SPLC claims it monitors social media communications of so-called hate groups and now claims that the #christmas, #merrychristmas, #merrychristmaseve, and #jesus hashtags are due to a so-called algorithm, but the SPLC cannot run from the clear intent of its "Hate Tracker" page.

Even someone as colossally dimwitted as Mat Staver should be able to comprehend this. The inescapable conclusion is that Staver is deliberately lying. Mad Mat (he is perpetually pissed off) has a history of saying just about anything that seems to suit him about anyone, or anything, that he deems to be an opponent. Truth is not a requirement for Staver's utterances.

If Mr. Staver is that indignant over being labeled a hate group leader then he should stop acting like a hate group leader. Staver always has the option of being a responsible spokesperson. Attacking Southern Poverty Law Center fails to address the real issue. By his actions Staver essentially confirms that he is unable or unwilling to conform to the norms of society.